Presidential Rankings

Who was the greatest president? Who was the worst?

From time to time historians ask one another to rank the presidents. The polls differ in their design, but respondents are typically asked to consider each president's performance in a variety of categories such as international relations, the economy, or relations with Congress. An overall ranking is produced with "1" being the greatest president.

I have gathered together the results of ten such polls. The top three presidents are usually Lincoln, Washington and FDR (in varying orders). There is a bit more disagreement about who the worst presidents are, but they usually include Harding, Buchanan, Nixon and Grant. 


Rankings:

                     SC1 SC2 MAR POR CT  MB  SC3 WSJ CSP SRI

George Washington     2   2   2   2   3   3   2   1   3   4
John Adams            9  10  10  10  14   9  11  13  16  12
Thomas Jefferson      5   5   4   4   5   4   4   4   7   5
James Madison        14  12  13  13  17  14  17  15  18   9
James Monroe         12  18  14  17  16  15  15  16  14   8
John Quincy Adams    11  13  15  18  19  16  18  20  19  17
Andrew Jackson        6   6   8   7   6   7   5   6  13  13
Martin Van Buren     15  17  21  19  18  20  21  23  30  24
W. Harrison          --  --  --  --  38  --  --  --  37  36
John Tyler           22  25  25  28  29  28  32  34  36  37
James Polk           10   8  11   9  11  12   9  10  12  11
Zachary Taylor       25  24  27  27  28  27  29  31  28  34
Millard Fillmore     24  26  29  29  31  29  31  35  35  38
Franklin Pierce      27  28  31  33  35  31  33  37  39  39
James Buchanan       26  29  30  35  36  33  38  39  41  41
Abraham Lincoln       1   1   1   1   1   1   1   2   1   2
Andrew Johnson       19  23  20  31  32  32  37  36  40  42
Ulysses Grant        28  30  32  32  30  35  34  32  33  35
Rutherford Hayes     13  14  24  20  22  22  23  22  26  27
Garfield             --  --  --  --  33  --  --  --  29  33
Chester Arthur       17  21  23  24  24  23  26  26  32  30
Grover Cleveland      8  11  12  15  13  17  13  12  17  20
Benjamin Harrison    21  20  26  25  25  26  19  27  31  32
William McKinley     18  15  22  16  10  18  16  14  15  19
Theodore Roosevelt    7   7   5   5   4   5   6   5   4   3
William Taft         16  16  17  21  20  19  22  19  24  21
Woodrow Wilson        4   4   6   6   7   6   7  11   6   6
Warren Harding       29  31  33  36  37  36  39  38  38  40
Calvin Coolidge      23  27  28  30  27  30  30  25  27  29
Herbert Hoover       20  19  18  22  21  21  35  29  34  31
Franklin Roosevelt    3   3   3   3   2   2   3   3   2   1
Harry Truman         --   9   7   8   8   8   8   7   5   7
Dwight Eisenhower    --  22  19  12   9  11  10   9   9  10
John Kennedy         --  --   9  14  14  13  12  18   8  14
Lyndon Johnson       --  --  16  11  12  10  14  17  10  15
Richard Nixon        --  --  --  34  34  34  36  33  25  26
Gerald Ford          --  --  --  26  23  24  28  28  23  28
Jimmy Carter         --  --  --  23  26  25  27  30  22  25
Ronald Reagan        --  --  --  --  --  --  25   8  11  16
George H. Bush       --  --  --  --  --  --  24  21  20  22
William Clinton      --  --  --  --  --  --  20  24  21  18
George W. Bush       --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  23






Legend:



SC1
    Conducted by:        Arthur Schlesinger, Sr.
    Year:	         1948
    Num. respondents:    55
    Source (original):   Life magazine, 1 Nov 1948
    Source (secondary):	 http://www.vicepresidents.com/new_page_14.htm

SC2
    Conducted by:        Arthur Schlesinger, Sr.
    Year:	         1962
    Num. respondents:    75
    Source (original):   New York Times magazine, 29 Jul 1962
    Source (secondary):	 http://www.vicepresidents.com/new_page_14.htm

MAR
    Conducted by:        Gary M. Maranell
    Year:	         1968
    Num. respondents:    571
    Source (original):   The Journal of American History 57 (June 1970)
    Source (secondary):	 http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/hst341/presgreatness.htm
  
POR
    Conducted by:        D. L. Porter
    Year:	         1981
    Num. respondents:    41
    Source (original):   The Rating Game in American Politics,
                         eds. William Pederson and Ann McLaurin (1987)
    Source (secondary):	 http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/hst341/presgreatness.htm

CT
    Conducted by:        Chicago Tribune
    Year:	         1982
    Num. respondents:    49
    Source (original):   Chicago Tribune, 10 Jan 1982
    Source (secondary):	 http://www.vicepresidents.com/new_page_14.htm

MB
    Conducted by:        R. K. Murray and T.H. Blessing
    Year:	         1982
    Num. respondents:    846
    Source (original):	 Journal of American History 70
    Source (secondary):	 http://www.csulb.edu/~astevens/posc100/files/ratings.htm

SC3
    Conducted by:        Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
    Year:	         1996
    Num. respondents:    32
    Source (original):   Political Science Quarterly (1997)
    Source (secondary):	 http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/hst341/presgreatness.htm

WSJ
    Conducted by:        The Wall Street Journal
    Year:                2000
    Num. respondents:    78
    Source:              http://www.opinionjournal.com/hail

CSP
    Conducted by:        C-SPAN
    Year:	         2000
    Num. respondents:    58
    Source:	         http://www.americanpresidents.org/survey/historians
    
SRI
    Conducted by:        Siena Research Institute
    Year:                2002
    Num. respondents:    200+
    Source:              http://www.siena.edu/sri/results/2002/02AugPresidentsSurvey.htm